1. Field
A linear compressor is disclosed herein.
2. Background
In general, compressors are machines that receive power from a power generation device, such as an electric motor or turbine, to compress air, a refrigerant, or various working gases to increase a pressure thereof. Compressors are being widely used in home appliances, such as refrigerators or air conditioners, or industrial fields.
Compressors may be largely classified into reciprocating compressors, which a compression space into/from which a working gas, such as a refrigerant, is suctioned and discharged, is defined between a piston and a cylinder to allow the piston to be linearly reciprocated in the cylinder, thereby compressing the refrigerant, rotary compressors in which a compression space into/from which a working gas, such as a refrigerant, is suctioned and discharged, is defined between a roller that eccentrically rotates and a cylinder to allow the roller to eccentrically rotate along an inner wall of the cylinder, thereby compressing the refrigerant, and scroll compressors, in which a compression space into/from which a working gas, such as a refrigerant, is suctioned and discharged, is defined between an orbiting scroll and a fixed scroll to compress the refrigerant, while the orbiting scroll rotates along the fixed scroll. In recent years, a linear compressor, which is directly connected to a drive motor, in which a piston is linearly reciprocated, to improve compression efficiency without mechanical losses due to movement conversion and having a simple structure, is being widely developed.
In general, the linear compressor may suction and compress a refrigerant while the piston is linearly reciprocated in a sealed shell by a linear motor, and then discharge the refrigerant. The linear motor includes a permanent magnet to be disposed between an inner stator and are outer stator. The permanent magnet may be linearly reciprocated by an electromagnetic force between the permanent magnet and the inner (or outer) stator. Also, as the permanent magnet operates in a state in which the permanent magnet is connected to the piston, the refrigerant may be suctioned and compressed while the permanent magnet is linearly reciprocated within the cylinder, and then the refrigerant may be discharged.
The linear compressor includes a muffler that defines a refrigerant passage through which the refrigerant passes to reduce noise, a suction pipe that guides introduction of the refrigerant into the muffler, and a back cover that supports the suction pipe. The present Applicant has filed a patent application (hereinafter, referred to as a (“prior document”) with respect to the linear compressor according to the related art, Korean Publication No. 10-2006-0081291, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
A linear compressor according to the related art includes a back cover provided with a suction pipe, and a muffler that guides a fluid suctioned through the suction pipe to an inner passage and reduces noise. The back cover may be coupled to a second spring disposed between a flange and the back cover, and thus, be elastically supported by the second spring. While the linear compressor is driven, a large load may be applied to the back cover by elastic force through the second spring or vibration of a linear motor.
According to the related art, the suction pipe may be coupled to the back cover using a coupling member or be attached to the back cover using an adhesive. In this case, the suction pipe may be damaged by a load transferred from the back cover or separated from the back cover. Also, as the suction pipe and the back cover are respectively formed of materials different from each other, for example, as the suction pipe is formed of a light plastic material, and the back cover is formed of a heavy magnetic material, when the suction pipe and the back cover are coupled to each other using the coupling member, the suction pipe may be damaged by the coupling force.